Stronger Still
by Jag-o-mite
Summary: *Sequel to Stronger Than Yesterday* With a solid case against the spirit world, a stalker in a tree, and a world changing curse affecting her every waking moment, Kagome finds that power and strength comes from many unexpected places. *Sexual content, mature audience, strong violence.* Told in a series of connecting snippets.
1. Mother and Daughter

She took another step.

The glass cracked and grated beneath her bare feet, but she was numb to the pain now.

Another step and she slipped from her weeping wounds.

Her movements were slow but steady. She was determined to get there.

Dedicated.

Devotion.

Love.

They were her strengths. They helped her get over the wounds. Helped her ignore the pain. Got her to overcome the hardships of this new life.

Cracks adorned one of the walls and for a nice composition, a hole ornamented another. There was also an indention on the ceiling, but she didn't like to think about that. The furniture was either broken or overturned, some were both. Yet, the crib was untouched and whole.

With scarred arms, Kagome reached into the crib for the crying baby. Cooing, she cuddled the precious cargo in her arms and began to bounce gently. Though swaddled in the blanket, a small hand appeared and clutched at her with tiny flesh gouging claws.

She smiled against the pain, because it was alright. Her baby had a strong grip. Her baby was healthy; strong.

Grey eyes peeked out at her and then behind her. She spun to find a horror standing over her. A tall and featureless torso with no head. Vaguely humanoid in shape. It was thin, both physically and substantially. A scribble come to life. A shadow of life. And her baby had made it.

She wasn't scared. She was proud.

Look at what her baby had done.

* * *

She knew he was out there. She didn't know where he hid, but she knew he was near. Watching her house. Waiting for a glimpse of her. Being a creepy little stalker.

She found it exciting; no, adorable. Maybe even a little charming. Maybe. It probably shouldn't be. She knew that on a certain level, it could be thought of as scary. It was scary to have a tiny, psychotic, sword wielding, fire generating, spike haired demon keep your house under surveillance. It was scary, but she thought it was cute. She didn't like that.

Curled on the couch, she tried to think of anything but him. It was hard. She wanted him in that tree. She wanted him near. She wanted to feel his warmth. Look him in his angry, red eyes. Those scarlet jewels that seemed to scald her with their intensity.

She wiped the smile off her face. She didn't want this. This was a forced reaction on both their parts. Well, maybe it wasn't. It wasn't like Hiei was dead inside. He could possibly have true feelings for her. She knew that he could have urges. She saw what he could do with that first hand. The images he placed in her head still floated to the surface of her mind every now and then.

Swallowing the saliva that pooled in her mouth, she remembered him pinning her to a bed and his obtrusive 'scabbard'. She remembered in the dragon cave. The teasing, the smirk, those grazing fingers, and again, those scalding eyes.

He was a sneaky, closet pervert and he wanted her. He had wanted her for a while. Now that she was tuned into him like an FM radio, she saw his attraction to her. The little bastard had cut her clothes off while sparring.

"Kagome."

She was jerked from her thoughts by the arrival of her mother.

"Kurama is on the phone for you."

Of course he was.

"Tell him I'll call him later."

"Alright dear."

As her mother left, Kagome curled in tighter into herself.

Kurama was a problem. She couldn't remember him displaying any attraction to her before now. She had found him attractive before. Who wouldn't?

He was tall and muscular. His hair was so vibrant, thick, and well maintained; it was almost as beautiful as his face. She couldn't forget that he was intelligent, not quite as fueled by violence as his companions, and he was soft spoken. A total flip of the switch from the outspoken, crass, and loud mouth demons she was used to.

Yet, she felt that all his new found affection for her, and hers for him, was only a result of her curse. Yes, he had popped up and told her that he didn't completely regret having sex with her. That he had never stopped thinking about it. That he couldn't get the thought of her out of his head. It was kind of romantic, just crappy timing. She couldn't trust his feelings. She knew she couldn't trust her own. Besides appreciating his looks, she hadn't thought of Kurama in that way. Other than 'the Happening', they hadn't had much chemistry, let alone many interactions.

Well, there was that very intimate, sensual, and gory moment when he had to lick her bloody back. Like there last intimate moment, he had been in control, while she rode it out in an induced stupor. This stupor being pain and blood loss instead of glamour, but she could recall a few details. Practically undressed, she lay flat on her stomach as Kurama straddled the back of her legs. His hands were firm but gentle as he held her in place. He alternated from cleaning her wound to licking it with his rough and skilled tongue. Bending low next to her ear, she could remember hearing low rumbles, growls, in his chest. His saliva acted as a numbing agent as it tried to speed up her natural healing process. But where it numbed her, every touch made her squirm from the pressure. And when she squirmed against him, his rumbles grew deeper and so did the pressure on her backside.

She closed her eyes and drew in deep breaths. That wasn't much to go on. That was a very intimate moment for him and she couldn't fault him for getting aroused. The situation was too sensual for him not to. She was semi-unconscious for most of it and it was erotic for her. Until she finally passed out.

A movement to her right jolted her from her thoughts. Turning, she saw that her mom had joined her on the couch. Smiling weakly, she sat up straighter for her.

"What is it, mom?"

Her mother shrugged as she positioned herself comfortably. "That's what I was going to ask you?"

She looked around confusedly. "I'm just watching TV."

Her mother smiled at her. "I turned the TV off 10 minutes ago."

A glance to the TV proved her right. "Well that's embarrassing."

"Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

She shook her head no. "There's nothing wrong mom. Just tired."

"Nothing you want to tell, you mean?"

"What makes you think something is wrong?"

Her mother picked at her skirt. "Just little things only a mother would notice. You're distracted a lot. You're withdrawn. You have conflicted emotions."

"What makes you say that?"

"That Kurama. Whenever he's around you light up and you have a bounce to your step. But when he's gone and his name comes up, you grimace and seem indifferent towards him. Like just now. You seemed displeased about getting a phone call from him."

Kagome pursed her lips and turned away.

"Little things like that." Her mother continued. "That and the fact that you have a dead arm, scales, and are suing a spiritual world with a solid case on your part. Oh and the small ninja I sometimes see in the trees."

Her lips twitched at the mention of the ninja.

"You have seen the ninja, haven't you? Please tell me you have, I would hate to think I was hallucinating."

"Oh mom, it's a long story and there's really nothing you can do about it."

"I know sweetie. I know I probably won't have any idea what you're talking about. I'm not magical or strong. I never went on an adventure or fell in love with unrealistically beautiful men like the ones that seem to flock to you."

"They don't flock to me."

"They are all extremely attractive Kagome. Especially that Mr. Sesshoumaru."

"Momma!" Kagome exclaimed with a laugh as her mother blushed at the thought of her attorney.

"It is ridiculous how good looking he is. And so tall and stoic. He's mysterious, but he exudes power. He makes me tremble."

"Eww."

"What I'm trying to say, Kagome, is that, even though I cannot relate or possibly solve any of your problems for you. I can help relieve your burden. You can confide in me."

Curled on the couch, her mind reeling with thoughts and emotions, Kagome looked at her mother and felt like a little girl again. She just wanted to hide behind her and have her make all her troubles go away. She just wanted her mother to rub her back and tell her everything was going to be okay. She wanted to get a load off her chest. So she did.

She let it all out and told her mother everything. Once she started she couldn't stop and her tale spilled forth from her mouth. All the confusing, horrible, humorous, and embarrassing details. For her part, her mother listened silently and was there to hold her as she began to sob.

As her tale came to an end and her racketing breathing evened out, Kagome glance up at her mother, who was absently stroking her hair with a contemplative expression.

"Mom?"

Her mouth tightened and she hummed uncommenting. Kagome sat up and looked at her with concern.

"Mom? Are you okay?"

"Mmhmm. So, Kurama…hurt, you?"

She flinched. "Yeah. Well, part of him did."

"But not the part that I see?"

"No, ma'am."

"But that part sees me?"

"That's right."

Her mother nodded her head, more to herself than to Kagome's comment.

"And you killed a child?"

"It was a little boy. Don't even know if he was demon or not. He was just too powerful and angry. He would've killed us if we didn't him."

"You killed him?"

"Yes."

"After he ripped your arm out?"

"Yes."

"And then you died?"

"That's right."

"And that same child cursed you, cursed your body into wanting to get pregnant?"

"That's what I think is happening. Yes."

"Why pregnant?"

"I might have said something about doing a better job than his mother."

"You taunted him?"

"I pitied him. I felt sorry for him and angry at whoever had put him through that." Her mother wrapped her arms around her and she realized she had started to tear up.

"I know that must've been hard for you. But it's over with now and you did what you had to do. You're going to have to let it go."

"I know, but there's not the problem now.

"There's another problem?"

"Yeah. Kind of. Its Kurama and Hiei. Hiei is the ninja in the tree. They seem to be, I don't know, the lead contenders, for this…situation. They're attracted to me, I'm attracted to them, but I don't think it's real. I don't want to have a baby with them and then have the attraction go away. That's going to leave resentment and possible abandonment for me and the baby. I don't want to be a single mother, that's not how I had imagined my life. I wanted to finish school, get a job, get married, and then have 2.5 kids. This curse thing has thrown me out of whack."

When she looked at her mother she saw a strange look upon her face.

"I'm not condoning it, but being a single mother is not as terrible as you make it seem. I feel like I did a pretty good job."

"NO!" she called out in mortification. "I wasn't trying to say anything bad about you or single mothers. I just don't…"

"Don't want to be one? No one does sweetie, well, not many people."

"And it's not like you've always been a single mother. When we lost dad, you at least had grandpa around."

Again her mother's face seemed strange. "Let me tell you a little something, Kagome. It's true, I wasn't always a single mother, and I had your father until Souta was a baby, and you were still a little girl, but as for having grandpa to help, not so much."

"Am I about to learn some horrible secret that I was too young to remember?" Kagome whispered with dread. "Because I don't think I can handle that."

Her mother smiled at her. "No sweetie, nothing like that. Your grandpa is the grandpa you've always known and loved. It's just that he's not my grandpa, or my father, which he chose to remind me of constantly when I first married your father. Grandpa didn't like me much when I was dating your father and refused to acknowledge me as a daughter-in-law. Felt I was using my pregnancy with you to gain access to his family's land and money."

"But…I was born two years after you guys were married."

"Exactly."

"It wasn't until after your father died and grandpa started to become feeble that he warmed up to me. Needed a caretaker by then."

"Wow."

"So with all that going on with me, I think I did pretty well raising two children and an old man." Her mother patted her knee proudly with a broad smile upon her face.

"You are so cheery. I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, my situation is resolved and my children are old."

"I'm not old." Kagome mumbled aloud.

"I can help you with your problem though."

"You can?"

"Of course, sweetie."

"You can help me not get pregnant before I'm ready? Even though I have a curse on me that's forces me and potential men to have unwanted amorous feelings for eachother? Even if I might give birth to a monstrously powerful, possibly demon baby? Despite the fact that the main guys trying to get into my pants are best friends? Even if I don't know if I truly want to be with them or if my curse is forcing me to feel that way? You can help me with all that?"

"That's what mothers are for."

"I don't think mothers should have to go through this."

"But I'm an exceptional mother. Let's see how to fix this." With a hand to her chin, her mother looked off thoughtfully into space.

"Well first off, we'll make sure you're never alone with your suitors. Invest in contraception. Maybe enroll in a yoga class to help with your hormonal problems. You know some yoga styles use meditation, that'll help to calm your urges. As for school and career, that'll be all you. Tutoring and evening courses to make up for missed lessons. That'll also help with hormones; you have so much to make up, sweetie. We have this non-pregnancy in the bag."

"What about when I do have the baby?"

Her mother's smile became frozen. "When? So you do want a baby?"

Kagome stopped. Frozen.

"Kagome?"

She could do nothing but breathe.

Her worried mother poked her in the head.

"I think I do." She finally said, answering her mother and her own misgivings.

"Really?"

She looked to her mother with an uneasy grimace. "Yes?"

Her mom smiled. "Even if it's an unholy, demonic, monstrosity?"

"Why unholy?"

"The monstrosity or demonic part didn't bother you?"

"Demonic is highly likely though. Kurama and Hiei are both demons."

"Oh." Her mother exclaimed happily. "It's for sure out of those two?"

"Well…yeah. Unless someone amazing comes along and blow those two out of the water." She tried to make it sound like a joke but it fell flat.

"What about Mr. Sesshoumaru? He seems like he could blow anyone out of the water. Makes your Kurama look like trash."

"Wow mom. You have such a major crush."

Her mother only blushed and smiled off at nothing. Daydreaming of a tall and powerful former feudal lord.

"Yeah, so, Sesshoumaru did blow those two out of the water. He was the one who helped me realize that I might be cursed."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. When we first got together for a meeting, I had been finding myself being more attracted to people lately, and getting a lot of attention from men, but when Sesshoumaru walked in…" she stopped midsentence as her face reddened from embarrassment.

"Oh my." Her mother squeaked.

"Well, he was obviously affected too…"

Her mother leaned forward with excitement. "How obvious?"

"Eww mom!"

"Don't eww me, it's perfectly natural."

"Anyway. It just suddenly stopped with a grunt."

"A grunt?"

"Yeah. He just sort of grunted and it went away. Apparently he is asexual."

"Oh that's a shame." Her mother said with the disappointment heavy in her voice as her shoulders seemed to slump sadly.

"I'm starting to think it's not."

"You're no fun. So what happened next?"

"He explained that he hadn't felt anything like that in centuries and it was most likely a supernatural influence. We talked some more, mostly about the case, about what happened with the spirit detectives, and he suggested that I might've gained a death curse when I killed Weylin."

"That really is a shame. A waste really."

"Mom, I'm cursed here."

Her mother sighed. "Right. Cursed to never have relations with Mr. Sesshoumaru."

"Stop."

"And give birth to a possibly demon baby. You've handled demons before. You're a strong young woman, and you're not rushing into anything. You can handle anything that comes your way. I have faith in you."

"Wow. You're taking this in stride."

"Kind of used to it. I don't know if you know this, but my daughter is a time traveling, demon vanquisher."

"Well that makes your daughter sound kind of awesome."

"She's nothing compared to her mother though."

Looking at her mother's smiling face and the way she was so accepting of her issues, Kagome smiled and leaned into her mother's embrace. "I can see that."

"You have always been pretty accepting of all this stuff."

"I am readily adaptable. Always have been. You should have seen me when I was younger."

"What did you do?" she asked with amused curiosity.

"Nothing you need to know about this day, dear."


	2. On the Attack

Someone was trying to kill her.

Life had been going pretty good for her for a while.

Years of jewel hunting and time traveling, a kidnapping, and months of recovery after death had her flunking out of high school. Yet with the power of money from a demon lord, months of one on one tutoring, and a called in favor had her enrolled in cram school for university entrance exams.

She went to school three days a week. Three days submerging in public like a normal girl. Like a girl without a hormonal/pheromone problem and who didn't attract unwanted sexual attention. For the most part, people tended to feel awkward and didn't approach her. She heard the girls make snide remarks, the boys felt intimidated, some didn't know how to handle the dead arm, and some feared she had some connection with the Yakuza. She assumed it had something to do with the scales on her arms resembling tattoos. They were subtle markings, so she figured people were studying her harder than their work.

Though cram school was a bit solitary for her, home life was a bit livelier. She seemed to be getting to know her family all over again. She never realized how fast her family had adapted to her time traveling and dealing with demons. Now that she was around more often, she realized it seemed unusual to her now. She felt there should have been more worry, or reluctance, or even some form of commotion. But they just accepted it.

Even now they were accepting. Her mother was even taking charge of the situation and getting her involved in a plan of action. She had mentioned she wanted to finish school, start a career, and get married before having children, and so her mother had looked into cram schools for her, placed a large box of condoms in her bedroom, and collected pamphlets for a variety of universities.

Her grandpa and Sota were on chaperone duty. If they weren't constantly in her company, then they were on set schedules to check in on her. It was mostly Sota's responsibility to do these things as she became aware of grandpa and his new habit of frequent naps.

She wasn't sure if it was a good idea for Sota to be taking on the responsibility of chaperone. He had his first year of high school to focus on. She tried to dissuade him from the task, but he insisted. She guessed the responsibility gave him a sense of power. Or else he was just being a good brother and trying to keep his sister safe. He escorted her to and from school. All shopping was done as a group activity. Whenever she was alone at home, she was always expecting phone calls or if she was merely alone in her room, she was due a knock on the door.

While her life resembled that of a typical girl, she was jolted from normalcy by regular visits from demons.

Shippo was a part of her life again and commonly took time off from ruling over the western lands to visit her and her family. In the human world, he appeared as a young boy no older than seven, but when alone with her or her family, he was the small and foxy kitsune she had known for years.

Sometimes he would visit for a day, sometimes a few, sleeping with her like old times. On rare occasions he was there for only a few hours as he conducted business in the human world. If he conducted business as a child, she didn't know. He never took her with him and never showed her any form but the one she knew.

Most of his visits were either to accompany Dr. Caeli to conduct therapy with her, or to bring her to the doctor for the sessions. While her arm remained useless, she had some feeling in it now. She couldn't move it, it took a lot of pressure for her to feel anything, and the only true sensations she could be sure of was temperature. So at least she'd know if her arm was on fire.

Sesshoumaru was also a new constant in her life. Maybe not constant; more like a reoccurrence. As her attorney, he would visit or schedule meetings to discuss her case. As a retired attorney, his days were very busy and he could only put in so much time for her case so every meeting needed to be productive, but her case was very interesting to him and he wouldn't treat it lightly. Or so he said.

As a retired attorney, Kagome wasn't sure what he did now. She never asked and he never offered. Her first sighting of him was a bit jarring, as he was almost unrecognizable. In the present, he kept his hair shorter and trimmed to his ears, wore only the finest suits, and sported thin framed glasses.

His glasses, she learned, were manufactured to change the hue of his eyes from their startling gold to a soft, honey brown. His hair, he explained off as an absence of pigment, and the length, while remaining professional looking, kept his tapered ears hidden from the public. Sesshoumaru had learned to blend in with the sheep and someone was trying to kill her.

The assassination attempts started out as small occurrences. Small enough to brush off as nothing. A pebble was thrown in her path to roll under her feet, a tree branch fell just as she walked passed, or a wild, feral cat fell from the sky to render her face to pieces. Small occurrences.

Then they started to occur more often and they began to up the ante. Pebbles turned to rocks, branches turned to hurled spears, and feral cats falling from the skies turned to two feral cats flung through the air with their tails tied together.

She became edgy and paranoid. She also developed a nasty habit of kicking the hell out of cats when she saw them. The attacks were becoming too frequent and she was getting tired of the bruises.

Finally, on an evening stroll from school, a sign embedded itself into the wall mere inches from her face.

"What the shit is this?" she yelled angrily.

"Was there an accident or something?" Souta asked in confusion.

"This was no accident!" she continued to yell into the air. "Someone is being stupid!"

"Someone did this?" he asked, eyeing the crowd that stopped to gawk at them.

"Yeah! Some bitch!"

"Kagome!"

"Pebbles and rocks? Alright! The sticks and branches, I can handle! Hell, the cats were even a little funny! But a sign? With my little brother here? You've gone too far!"

"We should probably get out of here."

"That's right! Get out here! Quit throwing things and face me like a man! Or woman! I don't know, all I smell is fear! You want me, here I am!"

"Kagome, watch out!"

Even with the warning, Kagome was already dropping to the ground as the brick exploded on the wall behind her.

"A brick? Seems like a step back from a sign embedded in a wall! What's the matter, getting tired?"

"Come on, let's go." As his sister trashed talked to no one, Souta grabbed her by the dead arm and helped her off the ground.

"I was expecting a car this time, you pansy!"

"Oh my god, shut up!" Souta scolded, as he forcefully pulled her along. "Act like a lady!"

"I may have only one good arm, but I have two feet! Guess where they're going!"

* * *

She had calmed down by the time they got home, and she even apologized for making a scene in public. To give her credit, Souta agreed that having a sign embedded inches from your face would cause anyone into hysterics. So promising to never mention it again, they parted ways.

In the solitude of her room she planned to figure out a way to flush out her attacker. Most of the attacks came from above, so she figured she had to keep an eye to the sky. With Souta with her, she hoped she could count him in to help keep watch. Maybe, if she found out how her curse worked, she could aim it in her attackers' direction and drive them out.

But if it was a woman, that wouldn't work. She needed time to think. Time she wasn't permitted because her attacker was in her room and waiting for her.

Closing her door and dropping her bag, she found out what her door smelled like. With a hand around her mouth, a knee in her back, and a strong grip on her good arm, she almost choked on her heart as it jumped into her throat. Her breathing came out harsh and the beating of her heart was loud in her ears.

She wasn't sure how long they held their positions, neither moving forward, but the initial excitement wore off and she wasn't sure if boredom or annoyance began to take over.

With a disapproving tsk, the pressure eased away from her back and the hands released her.

Turning on her heel, she found an expressionless Hiei.

"Is there a problem?" she asked him with a now calmed heartrate.

"You bore me."

"Excuse me?" She had not been expecting that.

His lip curled up at her in distaste. "You're a disappointing bore."

Confusion welled inside Kagome like a raging storm.

"What? Listen have you been throwing caaaa…" she gasped in pain as Hiei landed a solid strike to her abdomen.

The pain was sharp and spreading. All the air was forced from her body and she collapsed. Hiei hadn't moved an inch after his attack and he was the only thing keeping her from hitting the floor. She didn't understand why, but her mouth began to salivate and she couldn't control it.

"You disappoint me." He repeated into the quiet air. "You have no fight anymore. You're docile. A boring little school girl. You're a mere shadow of who you were, of what you're capable of; just a flickering flame of what I know is inside of you."

She coughed into his shoulder and tried to regain her breath. "And so…you attack me…in my room?" she gasped out.

"Throw shit at me? If you're bored…if, I bore you…go away and leave me alone. I have one arm. I'm getting to know my family again. I'm trying to make sense of the changes in my body. I live in the human world; I have to get my life together. Get an education and career. I had no reason to fight…until now."

She felt him tense up immediately and she rewarded him with a bite to the neck. Her teeth were fast and he was faster, but she managed to get a good grip before he pushed her away. She didn't break the skin, but she saw him wince.

Not relenting, she struck out with a right hook and caught his cheek, she followed up with a backhand slap to his other. When he merely gave her a blank stare in return, she gave him another slap for good measure.

One arm hung uselessly while the other throbbed at the knuckles, her stomach was aching, and her mouth was sore from trying to take a plug out of Hiei's neck, but her hackles were raised and she'd be damned if she didn't make him bleed a little.

"So are we going to do this or what?"

"You asked for it." He commented with a smirk.

"No I didn't, jerk, you did!"

She charged him, swinging hard, but he was expecting it and ducked. He was too fast, but she brought her knee up to meet his forehead. As he reeled back, he kept hold of her leg and drew her in. Using him as leverage, she planted her other foot on his knee and hoisted herself above him.

He leered up at him and she sneered back before bringing her elbow down onto his head. At impact he dropped her to her back. As he still had a hold of her leg she couldn't move away from him, but she could use her free leg to kick him black and blue.

With one arm clutching her leg, Hiei was having troubled blocking her kicks and took more blows to the face than what he would've preferred.

Eyes closed against her assault, he blindly reached out for her.

"Watch where you're grabbing!" she yelled as a clawed hand pawed clumsily at her chest. As she slapped at the offending appendage, she was suddenly caught in an iron grip. For a second, her heart dropped into a frozen lake of fear as she made eye contact with her assailant. His eyes were aflame, his grin was predatory, and in that moment, she knew the face of evil.

The grip on her leg tightened to almost painful proportions and her arm was hyperextended. With barely a grunt on his part, Hiei lifted her into the air and threw her into the wall. Judging by the pain in her back, she realized that if she hadn't grown scales there, she would have been in trouble. Gritting her teeth, she pulled herself up into a sitting position and tried to look out for Hiei's next attack, but she wasn't fast enough.

Slamming his hand mere inches from her head into the wall, he grabbed her jaw tightly with his other and looked searchingly into her eyes.

"There you are." He whispered before sealing her lips with a kiss.

Hiei was a man of violence and it showed in his kiss. He bit and sucked viciously while a soothing burn began to flow throughout her body. He leaned into her and stole her breath and she became uncomfortably aware of the hand on her jaw and it closing proximity to her neck. It wasn't until he enticed a moan from her that she became upset, and it wasn't until she felt him smile against her that she became pissed off. She wasn't going to lose this.

With a combination of strength and the element of surprise she pushed him onto his back. She saw the shock in his eyes before she dove into the kiss again. With her hair curtained around them, they entered their own little world as each fought for dominance in each other's mouths.

She didn't know if Hiei had sensitive lips or if they were just tender from the kissing, but she finally managed to get him to make a noise when she bit his lip. Hard.

Growling aloud he wrapped a hand around her throat and began a death squeeze. With his grip on her neck, she couldn't move her torso, but her legs were free. Hoisting her rear in the air and extending her leg, she gave him no warning before slamming it down home into his groin.

He groaned aloud and clenched her throat tighter as black spots began to dance before her eyes. With his grip still firm, a bit too firm, she groped for his face with darkening vision until she found the soft, plushy feel of an eye.

Realizing what she intended, he quickly tossed her aside where she could regain her breath. But that wasn't his intention.

As she was pulling in life giving air, Hiei was suddenly there by her side. One hand to her throat and another to her back. She didn't have time to brace her as he slammed her to her back…again.

His grip on her throat wasn't as strong as it was. With his other hand he tried to capture her arm to subdue her, but while he was preoccupied, she managed to force her legs between them. She tried to push him away, but while her legs were strong, his strength was more powerful overall.

Evading his grip, she reached out for his head and grabbed a handful of hair. Pulling him closer, she managed to put his head into a leg lock. Which she thought was immensely fair as they were now both being choked.

She was rewarded with a red faced glare a few seconds later. He stood clumsily to his feet, hoping to loosen her grip, but her technique was perfect. While he abandoned her neck to rescue his own, she merely tightened her hold on him as she became vertical.

He shook and bounced her, but she held firm. He even tried imbedding his claws into her thighs, but her back hurt worse than anything else at the time. She wasn't sure how long it took to choke out a demon, but she hoped it wasn't long. Her head was beginning to hurt.

She felt him shift between her legs as he turned his face towards her inner thigh. Confused, wary, and suddenly uncomfortably aware of his position, her eyes widened in pain as he sank his teeth into her flesh.

She cried out in pain. His teeth were not blunt and his jaw was a lot stronger than hers. His bite hurt. She pulled at his hair viciously and squeezed his head tighter, but he only hardened his chomp.

With a cry of defeat, she released his head and crumpled to the floor. She made to inspect her gnawed flesh, but he was quick to recover. Flipping her onto her back, he grabbed her good arm and tucked it into the curve of her back while using his other arm to press her head into the carpet.

"I believe I won this." He managed to get out from his labored breathing.

Breathing harder and spitting out carpet, Kagome growled at him. "Only because you have two working arms, stupid. Is this your way of courting a girl, because you suck?"

"Whoever said I was courting you?"

"You did." She taunted. "When you kissed me in front of Kurama and moved into the trees around the shrine to watch me. And could you at least pretend to eat the food my mom leaves out for you? If you're going to stalk me and be creepy, at least try to be polite about it."

"Do you ever shut up?"

"When I'm not being assaulted in my room!"

"Oh my." A surprised voice sounded out amidst their squabbling. "This doesn't look good."

Fighting his hold on her head, Kagome forced her head up to see her family and Shippo staring at them with horror and amusement. She saw her mother stood ahead of them all and carried a knife from the kitchen.

"Not good at all." Shippo added with a small smile on his face.

"Looks a bit criminal to me." Grandpa said with a glare.

"A bit?" Souta asked, his voice sounded just short of outraged.

"This won't do at all." He mother commented with a smile of her own. "Souta, go get mother a bigger knife."

"And some bags." She called after him as he ran to retrieve a weapon of death.

"I like you momma." Shippo chirped as he hopped onto her shoulder.

Meanwhile, Kagome and Hiei were still frozen in their positions. Feeling his hold loosen, she managed to push him off and clamber to her feet. Hiei remained kneeling on the floor. Maybe he did know his manners.

"Momma." She breathed out, hunched over and hurting. "This…is Hiei…the ninja in the trees."

Her mother only nodded her head in greeting, her smile still in place.

"Uh…Hiei, this is my mother…who was kindly putting out a bowl of food for you at night."

"Hn." He grunted.

"Right." She said into the uncomfortable silence. "Anyway, Hiei." Standing to her full height, she turned to him and met a blank eyed stare.

"You didn't win anything." She was tired, in pain, and embarrassed, but the punch she delivered to Hiei's temple was quite satisfying. And when she saw him slump over unconscious, she knew it was worth an aching hand.

"I would say he seems nice," her mother began. "But he doesn't."

Kagome shrugged her shoulder. She couldn't disagree with her mother; he wasn't nice. He punched her in the stomach to say that he liked her.

* * *

He was a vision of loveliness. He stood tall and proud before her with an comforting smile. His hair was lush and thick, yet swayed with the gentlest of breezes. When she opened the door, she hadn't expected him see him and stood closer than she would have preferred. That preference was diminishing as his scent evaded her nose. Clean and floral.

"What are you doing here?"

She thought she saw his smile falter for a moment, but with the way the moon haloed behind him, she could have been mistaken.

He gestured at his hands and Kagome realized that he held a small pile of books.

"Last we spoke; you mentioned you were having trouble with your core science class. So I thought I might be able to lend a hand with that."

Licking her lip, she glanced behind her into the house. "Yeah, well, that's what my tutors are for."

"Tutors and still have trouble. You might benefit from a little extra help."

She glanced at him suspiciously. "Was that a joke about me being dumb?"

"That depends on how much trouble you're actually having." He smirked.

"Coming through, Kagome."

As Kagome stepped aside, Kurama saw Souta and Shippo hauling out a rolled up carpet that was roughly shaped liked a carpet rolled around a body.

"Hey Kurama!" Shippo greeted cheerfully from beneath the suspicious parcel.

"Lord Shippo. Souta." Kurama greeted in return with a face filled with confusion and concern.

Souta only grunted in return before looking back at Kagome as he passed. "Don't take too long."

"You're going somewhere?" Kurama asked as the pair finally went on their way. As he turned to ask her, he was met with a face of alarm before it turned incredulous.

"You're not even going to ask what that was?"

"A body I presumed."

"Well it's not." She commented with a narrowed gaze. "Any why would you be so nonchalant about me having a dead body carried out of my house? What kind of girl do you think I am?"

He gave a secretive smile and looked away.

"Oh, good evening Kurama."

"Evening, Mrs. Higurashi." he greeted as she appeared in the doorway alongside her daughter.

"Dear, Kagome told me that you were a botanist. Is that true?"

"Well I have no credentials, but I am a bit of an expert when it comes to plants."

"That's wonderful." Mama Higurashi cheered. "I've been planning on refurbishing my garden. Do you think you could give me a hand with that?"

"It'd be my pleasure." He answered, but his eyes had turned towards Kagome.

"Oh my!"

"Yeah whatever." Kagome muttered, trying to rid herself of her blush. "Did you find it, Mom?"

"Yes, Dear. It's in my bag. Thanks again for letting me borrow it."

"Anytime."

"Bags?" looking past Kagome, Kurama saw that there were packed bags waiting in the hallway. "Going somewhere?"

"Oh no!" Mama Higurashi suddenly called out, looking over Kurama's shoulder in alarm. "Don't do that!"

"Too late." Shippo yelled as he and Souta tossed the bundle down the shrine steps.

"Oh dear. Excuse me."

"So where are you going?"

"If you really want to know." She sighed. "Nowhere special. The doctor is really busy this week, so instead of him coming to me for therapy, Shippo invited me and the family to the palace for the weekend."

"Reallly?"

"Disappointed?" she ask2ed with a smirk.

"It seemed like you were going on a mysterious adventure to rid yourselves of a dead body."

"That's not a dead body." she corrected him with a wag of her finger. "And nope. Just going to the Western lands for a weekend therapy session."

"With your rolled up carpet?"

"It's a rug, and yes. Love that rug."

"I think we need to hurry, Kagome." Her mother yelled from a top the stairs, looking down with a frown.

"Coming, Mom!" she yelled in return. "Listen Kurama, thanks for the offer, but now is not a good time."

Turning from him she went over to the pile of bags and hoisted one onto her shoulder before looking lost.

"Having trouble?" Kurama asked from the doorway.

"I didn't think this through." She answered with a sheepish smile. "Mind helping me carry some bags?"

Setting his books down on an end table, he grabbed a few bags from the floor and even took the one she carried.

"Thanks."

"So when are you expecting to return?" he asked as they began to move.

"Sunday night. Souta has school the next morning."

"Hm. By the way, what happened to your face?"

Kagome stopped in her tracks and looked to him with surprise upon her face.

"Kurama! You can't just ask a lady what happened to her face! That's rude."

"And you seem to be limping." He continued.

"And you need to stop asking questions that would be awkward and embarrassing for me to answer at this time. It's rude."


	3. The Visit

Kagome tried to hold her smile in as her mother forced Kurama into manual labor. When she had questioned him about help in refurbishing her garden, he hadn't been expecting to refurbish the entire shrine grounds. It started with a blue print and pictures of the grounds as they planned on what to plant and where, and then the labor started. He was then forced to dig up old plants, plow the ground, and barrel in new fertilizer; all while her mother supervised with a smile on her face.

It was going on a week now and he made no signs of stopping. He was dirty, sweaty, and appeared haggard at time, but he showed no signs of wanting to give up. Not with her mother slaving him with a never ending smile.

While Kurama was in charge of the gardening, her mother had been in talks with contractors to revamp the rest of the grounds. The shrine needed remodeling, the stone and brick pathways needed replacing, the gate needed painting, and so many things needed to be done that she was ever so grateful of Kurama for taking over the planting.

All this was for the effort of reinstating the shrine to its former glory and opening it up to the public again. The shrine hadn't been open since her grandpa was a young boy, and her mother wanted him to see it prosper again before it was too late.

Her mother cleared her throat and Kagome snapped to attention.

"What part of get that dance down before we open, didn't you understand?"

Of course getting the shrine open again meant that she and Souta were to be active participants. Currently she was supposed to be practicing her kagura while Souta, who refused to be seen in his Shinto robes, was inside, preparing talismans for profit.

"Doesn't it look strange with only one arm?"

Her mother turned from the sweating Kurama to give her daughter a scrutinizing stare. "I see two working arms from here."

Kagome held in a sigh and continued with her practice. While her mother was right, and she had two working arms, one was only working at 10%. She could only lift it to hip level, bending it was strenuous, and her fingers could barely hold the foam ball she grasped. It was working, but just barely. But it was a vast improvement.

"Keep it up." Her mother encouraged her with a clap.

"Yes mother." She recited as she flowed slowly through the steps.

The dance wasn't bad, she thought to herself. Yes, she was only doing it halfway, but it felt right. With the sun shining brightly upon her and with the dance to focus on, she became lost in the ritual. She left her troubles behind as her sense of Kurama and all the sexual frustration began to fade and she felt in charge of herself for the first time in weeks.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw something small and red scuttle across the ground. It was the ball she didn't feel herself drop. Watching it roll towards the steps, she let her arm hang uselessly at her side.

Kurama's grunt had her glancing at him in disdain as his sweaty and strong back set to work on plowing the ground. The heat and manual labor had him down to his undershirt and it clung to his muscles unnecessarily. He stopped a moment to brush his hair from his face and let the cool breeze run its fingers through his locks.

"Whatever." She murmured, forcing herself to look away from him and retrieve the ball.

"Where are you going, young lady?" her mother called after her.

"I dropped the ball down the steps." She told her.

"Don't take too long. Kurama is sweating for your sake and you will be a gracious hostess while he's here and take care of him. I'm sure he could use with something to drink."

"I am getting a bit dehydrated."

Not bothering to turn their way, she rolled her eyes at their words. As she reached the lip of the stairs she heard voices ascending their length. Her mother aiming for her to be a hostess for tours had her pause and assume a welcoming bow.

"Welcome guests." She greeted pleasantly as she heard them reach the top. "To the Higurashi Shrine."

"Oh ho! Look at you acting all nice."

The smile she sported dropped as she looked up to see Yusuke Urameshi grinning at her wildly. She stood up to her full height and gave him her full attention.

"What are you doing here?"

"Is that anyway to greet a friend?" he asked her, grin still in place as he approached her.

She gave him a grin back; all teeth. "What brings you here, detective?"

"I got lonely. Kurama and Hiei spend all their time here now and don't hang out with me anymore. So I decided to join in the fun here."

"As you can see," she said, indicating the hard labor behind her. "We're having a great time. We'll be glad to have you."

"I guess you've been slacking off then. I think you dropped this." He held up her red therapy ball.

"Thanks." She held her hand out to him.

As he handed the ball to her, he latched on to her hand and looked down at her disabled arm. "Still can't use it?"

"It's a lot better now." She answered with a shrug. "I have some movement and most of the feeling has come back to it."

"Still handicap then?" he asked with a grin.

"I'll show you whose handicap." She growled, gripping his hand tighter.

"Is that so?" he asked with a glint in his eye as he stood taller and squared his jaw.

"Yeah, that's so." She countered as her heart picked up in tempo. The sun shining on her back seemed to be absorbed by her skin and spread throughout her body.

"Then do something."

"I will. Let my hand go, first."

He pulled her hand up into the air, almost forcing her onto her tip toes. "I thought you weren't handicap. Do something with your other arm. Or are you really helpless?"

"Helpless? You of all people should know I'm far from helpless."

"How am I supposed to know that?"

"I'm pretty sure I saved everyone from a super powered monster child."

"You had help from super powered, relic armor. Doesn't count."

"So you want to see what I'm really made of?"

"Yeah. Show me."

"I will." she stepped up to him in challenge.

"I'm waiting." He stepped closer and looked down at her in answer to her challenge.

"I never liked you. Next to Hiei, you were the biggest jerk in the group. Don't think I forgot all the things you did."

"Like what?"

"_Things_. And that's why this ass kicking is going to feel so good."

"What are you going to do, crush me with your boobs?"

"They're not that big."

"You don't have to tell me that. Now get them off my chest."

"Get your chest off my breasts."

"Back up."

"You back up. And let go of my hand, you're making it sweaty."

"You're the one sweating. What's wrong, nervous?"

"Why would I be nervous?"

"_Because_." He answered, with a barely contained growl in his voice.

They stared deeply at each other as the world became a dull buzzing in their ears. They became fidgety and anxious as their breathing seemed to synchronize. They could feel their bodies tense up as they readied themselves for action. The heat from the sun and their bodies made them sweat. Yusuke breathed heavily through his nose as Kagome's lips parted with bated breath. Her lips suddenly felt too dry and she moistened them with a flick of her tongue. As it darted in and then out of sight, she saw his jaw twitch and she could do nothing but focus on it.

"I don't know what to do with my other hand." He finally said into the silence, his voice coming out lower than he meant.

"I like the way you smell." She told him in a helplessly, breathless voice.

"That's enough of that." Mama Higurashi said in a strained voice as she set the hose onto the two.

The cold water had immediate results, chilling Kagome to the bone and getting her attention off of Yusuke. As they were hosed down, they jumped and were pulled apart. Blinking water from her eyes, she finally became aware of the possessive arm on her shoulder and the black pinecone head standing before her. She also saw that Yusuke hadn't arrived alone as she now noticed the girl clinging to his arm and the bewildered Kuwabara standing next to him.

"The hell was that about?" Kuwabara asked into the uncomfortable air that followed.

Shivering from the cold and dripping wet, Kagome looked off to the side and blushed from embarrassment.

"She has a curse placed on her." Kurama answered as he stepped in front of her to join the freshly arrived Hiei.

"What kind of curse does that?" Yusuke asked; his voice loud.

"Where did you even get a curse from?" Kuwabara asked. "What happened?"

"Yeah, so…remember Weylin?" she asked, peeking a glance a Yusuke from over her guardians shoulder.

"The kid from the relic? How could I forget him? I almost died. You did die. Not something easily forgotten."

"You lost an arm." Kuwabara added quietly. "That haunts my dreams."

"You're his girlfriend?" Kagome asked, suddenly aware of the girl standing next to him and wanting to include her into the conversation.

"Yes." The girl answered, standing taller under Kagome's gaze, but not relinquishing her hold on Yusuke's arm. "I'm Keiko."

"Hi. I would say nice to meet you, but, eh….sorry about all this."

Keiko said nothing and only shifted uncomfortably at Yusuke's side.

"I think you were in the middle of an explanation." Mama Higurashi prompted her.

"Right…Keiko, was it? Did they tell you what happened on the mission?"

Keiko nodded her head in confirmation.

"Well afterwards…"

"After you came back to life." Kuwabara added.

"Right, after…"

"Because you were super dead."

She scowled, but continued on. "Right, after that, I had a side effect. A death curse I now believe. So there is this Ovarian Interruption…"

She was interrupted again by Yusuke voicing his disgust at the name while Keiko looked on confused. "What?"

"That's what she calls it." Kurama supplied, his face relaying his feeling towards her choice of words.

"Calls what?" Keiko asked, looking between the two.

"The interruption of my natural feelings towards the opposite sex. I am affected just as much as they are, and to be honest with you, it's exhausting. And frustrating. It's like being thirsty, but no matter how much you drink, it's never satisfied. And what makes it even worse is that I'm not even drinking anything."

"What are you talking about?"

"Her body lets off pheromones that cause false feelings of love and lust for her and any male that her body feels will be a compatible partner to conceive a child with." That was Hiei, laying it on the line for everybody.

"Very well put." Kagome complimented him before turning her attention back to Keiko. "So basically, my body is trying to get me laid and it has varying effects on different people. Again. I'm sorry. It wasn't real."

Turning towards Yusuke she blushed as she looked to him. "I thought they had told you. If you know about it, it's easier to handle. You can almost ignore it."

"Yeah. If those two hadn't been too busy with themselves and actually talked to me, this could have all been avoided."

"Now that everything's out in the open," her mother announced with a clap of her hands, "How about you stay for a tour of the grounds?"

"I don't know." Keiko answered with a grimace. "It might be a little weird now."

"Yeah, mom."

"Nonsense. It'll give you time to practice your touring routine."

Kagome cast a speculative glance at the group. Confusion, hostility, and embarrassment clouded the air as everyone tried not to look uncomfortable.

"It'll be nice. You'll end the tour at the back where I'll have lunch waiting for everybody. Practice and a fun get together all at once."

Kagome made a non-committable noise from the back of her throat.

"Great. I'll just go and fetch Souta."

"Who's Souta?" Yusuke asked as her mom happily trotted away.

"My brother."

"Is he part of the tour?" Kuwabara asked.

"Not really." She answered with an embarrassed shake of her head.

"He's her chaperone." Hiei added. "And he'll be here to make sure she and the detective don't hump like animals."

Her hand shot out and struck him in the back of his head.

"That's for being an ass!" she shouted into his face as he turned a bug eyed, steely stare towards her. "And why are you even here? I thought your mode of operations was to skulk around in trees and issue sneak attacks, you measly, little sparkle."

"Sparkle?" Kuwabara voiced. "Wow. That's both small and demeaning."

"Touch me again, and you'll be left with no working extremities."

"Oh, but it's alright to throw cats at me and try to burn down my house?"

"Dude you tried to burn down her house?" Yusuke voiced with a frown of concern.

"The bitch survived didn't she?"

"What was that about cats?" Kuwabara added with a frown and just as deeply concerned as Yusuke.

A foot connected with the side of Hiei's head. Fast as a whip, he drew his sword even before turning to face her, but Kurama was one step ahead of him. With one arm holding an infuriated, hissing and cursing Kagome, he snatched Hiei's sword from his grasp.

Without giving the redhead a glance, Hiei still advanced forward and began spitting his own curses at the miko trying to get past Kurama's arm.

"What uh…what is this?" Yusuke asked into the air. "This seems different than what I just went through."

"Yes…" Kurama supplied with a grunt as he struggled to keep the combatants at a distance. "This does seem a bit…unusual…from the last times I've caught…them…bickering."

"What's the difference?" Keiko asked.

"This tension is all hostile." Yusuke answered her with a smirk.

"So what was it with you?" she asked him with an accusing look as she finally let his arm go.

"I think you know." Kurama answered for her. "Our…interaction…with Kagome…with her…curse..."

"The Ovarian Interruption." Kuwabara added.

"With that…has never been as…_evident_…as they were just now…with…Yusuke."

"Not my fault." Yusuke countered quickly, holding his hands up in surrender.

"No one's fault." Kurama said in his defense, although his gaze was uncharacteristically sharp. "But their usual quarrels had underlines of flirting."

"Who flirts like that?" Keiko asked him with a repulsed face.

"Hiei." Kuwabara and Yusuke said in unison.

"What?" Kuwabara asked as they turned to him in surprise. "I pay attention."

"Right." Kurama continued. "And Kagome picked up on it and responds likewise with him."

"But this is different?"

"Yes. I believe…with Yusuke's presence…her response to us…has diminished….and all that is left is…this."

"Right...need any help, uh….with that?" Yusuke offered hesitantly.

Kurama just gave him an exasperated look in return.

"What? Don't get mad at me just because your old boyfriend and new girlfriend are cheating on you with each other."

"Really, Yusuke?" Keiko asked with an exasperated expression.

"They were inseparable, and then along came Kagome and her ovaries and now everything's fucked between them."

"How do you know?" Kuwabara questioned him. "They could be sharing her."

"WHAT?" with the strength of an enraged puma, Kagome stiff armed Kurama and Hiei out of her way as she aimed her fury at Kuwabara.

She didn't even get to make a move on him as she suddenly arched her back in pain and yelped in sudden terror. As she fell to the ground, they caught sight of the water gun toting teenage boy in typical Shinto priest robes.

"What is going on at this Shrine? Who the hell is that?"

"Alright." The boy announced as he approached. "I hear we're going to take a little tour with some aggressive males."

"She seems pretty aggressive too." Keiko pointed out, indicating the fetal positioned girl on the ground.

"Don't worry about her." Souta told them as he pointed his gun at his sister. "I have her."

"What's in the gun?" Kuwabara asked him. "Look like she's dying."

"She's overreacting." Yusuke told him with a leer as he looked down on her. "It's just water."

"Is it?" Souta challenged as Keiko elbowed her boyfriend in the rib. "Just ask pinecone here."

"I think his name is Sparkle now." Kuwabara supplied.

They all turned towards Hiei, and Souta made an obvious show of pointing the tip of the gun at his face. He was silent as he stared from the muzzle of the gun to those surrounding him. Without a word, he stepped to the side and out of range.

"Now." Souta commented. "If you want to get a bit more intimate with the contents of the gun; make a move on my sister."

"Do it, Urameshi." Hiei urged him. "Make a move on her."

* * *

"Our shrine, on the other hand, does not host a god." Kagome continued as she led the group on the tour. "Instead, we have the Sacred Tree." She then brandished her hand over the shrine grounds and singled out a lone tree peeking over the roof of their house.

"The Sacred Tree will be our last stop on the tour."

"What makes it so special?" Kuwabara inquired.

Kagome froze in her gesture as her face reddened. Souta coughed into the silence.

"Go on." Yusuke prompted her. "Tell him why that's the Sacred Tree."

She relaxed her form and took a deep breath as a thought came to her. "Over 500 years ago there was a miko and a hanyou who were very much in love. The miko, while being the protector of a magical artifact, was the target of an evil hanyou's attention. In order to corrupt this artifact with their hatred and bitterness, the evil hanyou deceived the two lovers and forced them to slay eachother. But before her death, the miko sealed her hanyou to this sacred tree for 50 years."

"So it's special because a dead guy was nailed to it?" "Kuwabara asked.

"No, ass," she snapped, before resuming a gentler voice. "It is a tree of ages…"

"I thought it was a Sacred Tree." Yusuke argued.

"_Shut up!_ The Sacred Tree is magical and survives through time and conflicts to entwine and connect the fate of those who pray to it."

"So it's like a magic 8 ball tree?" Kuwabara summarized.

"No stupid," Yusuke snapped back. "It's a fortune teller."

"_As we stand here!_" Kagome continued. "You would be magically surrounded by cherry blossoms with no knowledge of their origins. Kurama that's where you come in. Mama wants you to plant sakura trees in the back."

"Is that going to be part of the tour?" Kuwabara asked her before Kurama could say anything.

"You stop talking." She glanced at the others and they got the message that no talking was preferred. "Now while you follow me, be sure to watch your step as some of the stones on the walkway need replacing."

They followed her to a corner of the stone walkway that turned in a dirt path. Here she stopped and turned to them. "If you travel along this path, you will come to a small shed. Inside this shed is the Bone Eater's Well. 500 years ago this well was used to dispose of the bodies of demons and monsters."

She looked back at them and smiled.

"Fun fact. Centuries later, a 15 year old girl will follow her cat into this very wellhouse and be snatched into the past by an evil centipede demon. There she will release an ancient dog demon from his forced hibernation from the very Sacred Tree upon these lands and have him join her on an adventure as a time traveling schoolgirl. In her quests she would find love, strength, courage, and unbreakable friendships. Only to disappear into the night, never to return, in order to avoid being murdered in her sleep by a traitorous dog trying to revive a zombie."

"Is that going to be part of the tour?" Yusuke asked with uncertainty.

"That part might actually need to stay." Souta added. "Sounds like some tragic, magical fable you hear at other shrines."

"And this one has evidence of truth in it." Kagome said happily.

"Why are you smiling?" Yusuke asked her with a scowl. "That's completely sad."

She stared at him intently as she tried to control her pout.

"Stop." He groaned into the air. "I guess it's not that sad."

"Right. It's magical." She whispered. Spinning on her heel, she slinked down the path and continued the tour.

She brought them to a procession of storehouses. Three buildings stood apart from the others at short distances. They were each roughly the size of small bedrooms, but more rectangular than square.

"Again, while our shrine does not host a god, it does hold many arcane relics and artifacts that need spiritual protecting. These storehouses here hold our inventory. Those of you spiritually inclined may feel their presence."

She paused here to let them gauge whether or not they could feel anything.

"Later on, we plan on combining these three holdups into one large room and possibly allow visitors to walk through and view the artifacts."

"Aren't they dangerous?" Kurama asked in concern. "It might not be such a good idea to allow such free access."

The eye she turned to him was sharp and her smile was whimsical. "As they are now, there will be seals placed on the storehouse to prevent entry and should those fail, more, aggressive seals will be placed within and on the artifacts, which will be locked behind safety glass. And if all else should fail, they would have to get past me."

"You're pretty damn full of yourself." Yusuke said with a narrowed gaze.

"I believe I have reason to be." She turned from him but gave him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Don't you?"

With his eyes still narrowed, he looked at her thoughtfully. "I guess you're right. A little. You were kind of badass sometimes."

"Sometimes?" she questioned incredulously.

"I'm pretty sure I remember you getting drunk and crying over a crushed flower."

Her mouth dropped open in shock. "I don't remember anything like that happening and it's okay if I cried; I'm a girl."

"Oh yeah." He exclaimed, his expression wolfish. "I know."

Whatever memory the two drew forth, to make Yusuke grin with such a devilish demeanor and Kagome to blush hard, was never elaborated on as Souta was suddenly there and pointing two guns in both of their faces.

"Are we done?" he inquired.

"Ask him that." She retorted as she sidestepped the gun and walked a few paces away, leaving behind a scowling Hiei and a barely suppressed sighing Kurama.

As she continued the tour, Kagome turned to face them as she continued walking backward.

"It would be at this spot here that we would be crossing over a bridge. We plan on putting in a small water feature in this spot. Possibly a koi pond."

"After crossing over the bridge and rounding the corner we come to the worship area."

The open area surrounded a large paved courtyard. The paved center was surrounded by unlit lanterns and a pair of guardian statues. Off to the side, on smaller patio areas, were benches and a picnic table. They also saw that the path they traveled wasn't the only one that led to the worship area, but theirs was the biggest.

"And as you can see, we are now in the presence of the Sacred Tree. See as it looms over us, yet there is no imposing pressure upon you. The Sacred Tree is benevolent and holds the answers to any who may seek out its help in prayer."

"And it also keeps dead guys alive if you nail them to it too, right?" Kuwabara added questioningly.

"Keeps them in an induced slumber until they are needed." She supplied sagely. "And shut up."

"Oh good." They heard a happy voice exclaim. "I'm just in time."

As a unit, they all turned to see Mama Higurashi coming down a path with two large trays stacked atop the other.

"Now you can sit down and enjoy a nice lunch. Kagome, come over and help me serve your guests."

"Use both hands." Her mother scolded her as she handed Kagome a tray. "Boys, why don't you move two of the table so that we can all sit together?"

As the boys set the tables together, Kagome and her mother began serving them as they became seated.

Hiei suddenly found his path blocked by a smiling, older version of Kagome. "Will you be joining us for lunch or shall I place your food on the ground to rot like your manners have?"

The yard was drowned in a sudden hush and Hiei was a deer caught in headlights. He looked from Mama Higurashi, to Kagome, to the waiting group, and finally back to Mama Higurashi. He didn't know how to respond, so he proceeded with murder face.

"You'll have to excuse Hiei, Mrs. Higurashi," Kurama interrupted as he stepped between the two. "But he was not brought up around the best of influences."

"And he'll be glad to sit down and enjoy the food you have graced us with." Kagome added from behind her mother, giving Hiei a pointed look.

"That's good to hear, because having the man who constantly harasses my daughter and skulk around like a demented pervert in the trees, be openly rude to my face would be too much."

"It _would_ be too much." Kagome agreed aloud as her mother turned away. With her back to them, Kagome stepped up to Hiei and glowered. "And if you ever look at my mother that way again, I'll stick my foot where the sun doesn't shine."

"Oh my god," Kuwabara exclaimed. "You're going to kick him in his soul?" then he and Yusuke laughed and high fived as only bros could.

With a good dose of ignoring distractions and a productions of manners, they managed to get together their makeshift table and were able to sit down for a very awkward lunch.

"So," Mama Higurashi began, trying to break the tension again. "Have any of you started University yet?"

Though she felt her question was innocent enough, it garnered a table of shifty eyed glances.

"Kurama?" she prompted.

"Sorry to disappoint, but after High school, I don't plan to further my education."

"Really?" Kagome exclaimed in surprise.

"But you're so smart." Mama Higurashi added with a pouting smile, which most didn't know was even possible.

"Thank you for the compliment, but I only have interest in botany and there isn't a university that could teach me what I don't know."

"So what are you going to do?" Kagome asked him curiously.

"I've thought about it for a while, but I believe I will just start working for my stepfather's company."

"Oh," Mama Higurashi commented enthusiastically, looking pointedly in Kagome direction. "Well that's nice. You're not going to university but you're still thinking ahead. Nice prosperous qualities in a young man."

"No one's biting, mom." Kagome muttered around a mouthful of food.

"So what about you?" Mama Higurashi continued, turning to face Kuwabara.

"Oh, I'm definitely going to a university."

"Traitor." Yusuke snapped at him with a mouthful.

"If I don't, Shizura is going to disown me!"

"I take it, you're not going to further your education?" Mama Higurashi asked Yusuke with disparagement in her eyes.

"I'm barely making it through high school. My grades suck and I'm hardly there because of this Spirit Detective business."

"His grades and attendance were lacking way before he became a Spirit Detective." Kuwabara added.

"So did yours." Yusuke griped.

"I did better than you."

"On attendance maybe, and only because your sister cared about you."

"That sounds sad and sweet at the same time." Souta commented aloud.

"So you don't have any plans for after high school? It's not too late, you can always go to cram school, like Kagome."

"Just tell the world, why don't you?" Kagome sighed before drowning her voice in drink.

He ate a few more bites of food and looked around, seemingly in thought, before shrugging. "Nope. Just going with the flow."

"Good luck with that. What about you, dear?"

"I have plans to go," Keiko answered after a pause to gather her thoughts. "But the problem is where and what to study."

"Of course. So many choices."

"Right. What about you Kagome? What are you plans, after cram school? Are you having trouble getting through it?"

"No, it's not hard. I'm only in cram school because of prolonged absences. The only problem I have is with the other students thinking I'm with the Yakuza."

"Is it because of that mean look in your eyes?"

"What mean look?" Kagome asked sharply, as Keiko suddenly pushed a button she didn't know she had.

"She's probably talking about that one on your face now." Souta added.

"That's enough of that." Mama Higurashi shushed him as she sensed danger in the atmosphere.

"I'm not mean. I don't have a mean look. I get annoyed. People annoy me."

"This food is really good, ma'am." Kuwabara loudly proclaimed.

"Right!" Yusuke added just as loudly. "Better than anything my mom cooks."

"That's because your mom doesn't cook."

"I know, which says a lot."

"It actually does say a lot." Mama Higurashi commented with sudden understanding.

"Kagome?" Souta interjected, trying to defuse the tension between the girls. "Don't make me spray you?"

"Why just me?" she snapped, suddenly facing him with that mean face she liked to classify as annoyed.

"I don't think the spray is going to work on her. If you want, I'll ask Mr. Shippo about dart guns that'll affect anyone."

For a moment, Kagome was mollified as she considered it.

"I don't think we'll come back if we'll get darted." Keiko commented with a nervous grimace.

"Aw, come on, Keiko." Yusuke pleaded with her. "We're going to have to see this place after the renovations. And how else am I supposed to see everybody when they're holed up here with her?"

Kagome smiled at him. "Well we tried to get rid of Hiei, but for some reason he just keeps coming back."

"Only to throw cats and set you on fire?"

"And just generally assault me, but I've gotten better at handling sneak attacks, and now that we have the spray, they have lessened. It also helps that I'm fireproof, so, I have that going for me."

"Fireproof?" Keiko asked.

"Yeah, see." Lifting her arm up to the table, Kagome rolled the sleeve of her robe up and showed them her scaled arm. "This is why the people in cram school think I'm in the yakuza."

"Is it a magical tattoo that protects you from fire?" Keiko asked her, looking at the detailing closely.

"She was poisoned by snake demons." Yusuke answered for her as he grabbed Kagome's arm off the table to look at it closer.

"And it gave me snake _qualities_."

"Which doesn't make sense," Souta muttered to himself. "Since snakes aren't' fireproof, but logic be damned when it comes to my sister."

"That's what Mistress Schlange gets for trying to imprison us." Hiei spoke up.

"You were already imprisoned." She told him. "I was just given ownership of you."

"You can let go of her hand now." Keiko's voice suddenly cut through the air, low yet sharp. No one looked in her direction, but she suddenly had their attention.

"Oh come on, Keiko. You have to feel it." He said, obvious to the situation as he continued to be fascinated by Kagome's arm.

"I'd rather not."

"You can feel them, it's still soft like skin, but you can feel each and every scale." He started running his nails over her arm slowly. "Can you feel that?"

Kagome kept her blushing face down and said nothing as glances were thrown over her and Yusuke's heads. She knew she should've pulled her arm from his grasp, but she found the muscles weak under his touch. She also found out that nails felt nice raking against her scales.

Kurama gently grasped Kagome's other hand and the sudden touch made her flinch. She started to snatch her hand away but as she looked at him, expecting to see a jealous or judgmental glare, he only smiled reassuringly at her. Mollified by the look she relaxed in his grip. Simultaneously something streaked across the table causing Yusuke to reel back in alarm and sudden anger, releasing her arm as he did so.

"What hit me?" he barked.

"How about we forget about that for right now?" Souta suggested as he pointed the water gun in his face.

Eyeing the gun suspiciously, he looked from it, to Kagome's and Kurama's clasped hands, to Hiei who suddenly had his sword in his lap, a glaring Keiko, and back to the watergun. "What did I do?"

"Let's just sit here and peacefully eat the food my mother has lovingly provided us, okay?"

Silence ensued as everyone tried to concentrate on their food. No one looked up from their bowls, no one spoke, and the only sounds were that of nature. In a way, the tension remained, but it became a peaceful tension.

Fresh air, a gentle breeze, the sound of birds chirping and the trees moving to the wind. Every now and then they would hear the sound of small wildlife moving across the land. Kagome could see the potential in what her mother planned to do now. Once they finished renovations, their shrine would be an ideal place to visit for tourist and visitors looking for a peaceful place to pray.

If you seek it, you could truly find your spiritual peace at the Higurashi Shrine. If only the peace would seek out the Higurashi Shrine. While Kuwabara and Mama Higurashi seemed to be getting along nicely in conversation, the rest of the table was dark and gloomy. Kagome, with both hands back in her possession, sat quietly to herself and tried to eat her food without making eye contact with anyone. Hiei, who had made an effort to eat, or skillfully push his food around, was now only occupied with polishing his sword while staring threateningly at Yusuke. Yusuke had taken to muttering to himself and devouring all the food within his reach. Keiko had gone silent and would look at no one but Yusuke as she tried to engage him in a heated conversation. Kurama and Souta could do nothing to ease the tension as they glanced from one problem to the next.

"Kagome!" a voice suddenly called out into the silence.

Jolted to alertness, everyone turned to the house to see Kagome's grandpa.

"That albino is on the phone for you!"

"Oh thank god!" she exclaimed under her breath as she jumped from the table and fled into the house.

"Albino?" Yusuke wondered aloud as he watched her go. It wasn't until she disappeared into the house did he turn around to find the table looking at him. Glaring. "WHAT?"

"You need to get a hold of yourself." Hiei told him.

He looked from to face in irritated confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm not doing anything."

"You keep staring." Kurama informed.

"At what, the food? I've been eating!"

"You've been watching her eat."

"It's kind of creepy." Souta added.

"Every time she moves, you stop to watch her." Kuwabara told him. "It is unsettling."

"It is a bit disturbing, dear." Mama Higurashi

His irritation rose and he hit the table hard enough to make it tremble. "Screw you guys! What about her?"

"She is at just as much fault as you." Souta told him. "She's just been at this longer and can handle it better than you. A little. Sometimes."

"It might be best if we just leave, for now." Kuwabara suggested.

Yusuke's body tensed at his words and he unconsciously began to clench and unclench his fist. "I'm not ready to go." He growled through gritted teeth. "We came here to visit, and that's what I'm doing. That's _all_ I'm doing."

"That's not all you're doing." Kurama told him after a moment. "Pay attention to your girlfriend."

Despite the urge to do anything but what came from Kurama's mouth, Yusuke looked to Keiko and saw her hurt and anxious expression. He exhaled deeply, seeming to deflate, and relaxed his stance.

"Okay." He sighed, talking to Keiko more than the rest. "Okay we can go. I know when I'm being outnumbered, and I know when a weird curse is making me act strange."

"Apparently you don't." Keiko commented with less heat than she meant as a relieved smile spread across her face.

"Yeah, yeah." He muttered as he stood up from the table. "Let's just go."

"Oh. You're leaving already?" Kagome asked him as she returned. Whether it was evident to her or not, but her voice conveyed disappoint as did Keiko's face at her untimely arrival.

"Yeah, well," Yusuke answered, rubbing his neck and actively looking anywhere but at her. "I guess it's time for us to go."

"You guess?" she asked with a laugh.

"No. No, as in I'm not guessing and that I know that I have to go. I think I locked my mom out of the apartment, anyway."

"Well I guess that's just as well, that was Sesshoumaru on the phone, and he's coming to pick me up for a lunch session anyway."

"Mr. Sesshoumaru is coming?" her mother asked in excitement as she suddenly stood up.

"Calm down, mom. He had a meeting canceled on him and decided to work on my case a little during his lunch."

"I'll have to freshen up." Her mother said to herself, completely ignoring her daughter as her face began to darken.

"He probably won't even get out of his car."

"So many things to do."

"Mom!"

Her mother practically floated away.

"Mom!"

The sun shone down on her, and little, blue birds, carrying flowers flew above her head.

"Mom! He's older than grandpa!"

A sudden cloud drew shadows across the grounds as her mother paused. The little, blue birds were chased away by black, beady eyed crows who ate the flowers.

"Don't care." The sun shone brighter than before and a surprised rainbow said hello as it arched over the land. The big, black, beady eyed crows were shooed away by glorious eagles. "Be a good hostess and show your friends off."

"I wonder if she'd be so in love if she knew how many times he tried to kill us in the past." Kagome turned back to the group and tried not to imagine her mother primping for Sesshoumaru.

"And it's not the amount of times he tried to kill us. It's the dead eyed, soulless, disdained gaze that he barely graced his victims with that would get her. Merciless. Do you know how it feels to have someone try to kill you who barely acknowledged your existence? To kill me, would have been less of an effort, _less of a thought_, than shooing a fly from his face."

"And that guy's your lawyer?" Yusuke asked in disbelief.

She shrugged. "He got bored with killing on the whim. So he started killing them in the courtroom. With that same dead eyed, soulless, disdained gaze. More like a glance. He doesn't make a lot of eye contact. Like no one is worth it. "

"I thought he was the Devil when I first met him." Souta whispered warily, as if speaking of him would make him appear.

"Nothing like his brother."

"Right?" Souta exclaimed, as if he had been arguing that point for the longest.

"Pfft. He wished. I wonder if his wish would have come true, would he had turned into that."

Souta shuddered. "One is enough."

"I hear you, little brother. I hear you."

"Um," Keiko voiced up from her position on Yusuke's arm. "Can we leave now?"

Kagome looked down at her for a second, her face undecipherable.

"Psst!"

Looking towards her brother, Kagome saw him gesture for her to step away with him. Out of direct earshot, the group watched as the younger Higurashi whispered something into his sister's ear. They saw her reverently deny something as they obviously gestured at the waiting group. A few more words were thrown back and forth before Kagome grimaced and back downed. After nodding in agreement to something, Kagome tried to give her brother a hug only to have him dodge it and push her away.

"Sorry for the wait." She announced as they rejoined the group and bowed slightly; full on hostess mode. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you off the grounds."

It was a silent group that followed Kagome back to the entrance, but it was a group that was silently relieved. Relieved that the visit was almost over, relieved that nothing irrevocable had happened, and relieved that it was ending without much of a fuss.

There was a moment of worry when Kagome stopped the group and told them to be silent as a group of feral cats crossed their path.

"You're going to handle them before we officially open." She shot back at Hiei, giving him a dirty look.

To which Hiei replied with a blank stare.

Yet, despite the brief pause, they finally made it to the entrance.

"Well, this was fun." Kagome announced, stopping to let them pass her by.

"This was weird." Kuwabara corrected her as he passed.

"And awkward." Souta added.

"Yeah, whatever." Yusuke grumbled as he and Keiko passed her by.

"Thanks for the food." Keiko mumbled, still attached to Yusuke's side. "It was really good."

"Thanks." Kagome told her with a small smile. "I'll let my mom know you enjoyed it."

As they made it to the stairs, Kagome was finally able to sigh in relief. "Bye guys," she called after them in good cheer. "Maybe next time will be better."

Kuwabara and Keiko stopped and waved, while Yusuke only held his arm up, but seeing the others hesitate, he too stopped to look back and wave.

Kagome, who had been genuinely smiling, froze at the look on his face.

"Hey!" he suddenly yelled out angrily.

"Huh?" she voiced in confusion.

"Yusuke don't." Keiko pleaded, grabbing for his arm and missing.

"Hey!" he yelled again as he stalked closer. "We're leaving. So why are you still standing there?"

"What?" Kagome asked him, not sure about what he was getting at. Next to her, Souta began to back up and got his gun in a ready position.

"If I leave, you two leave!"

"Oh." With understanding, Kagome looked over her shoulder at Hiei and Kurama, who stood close behind her, visibly tense, defiant, and annoyed.

By now, Yusuke stood before, but instead of staring down Hiei and Kurama, he was looking at her. She found his look intimidating and endearing. She couldn't find any words to respond to his gaze.

"Do you want me to make them leave?"

She felt her heart beat hard in her chest. "Wow." She breathed out in admiration.

"Kagome." Souta whispered at her reverently

"Well…it's okay." She told him, keeping her eyes mostly downcast. "Kurama is helping out with the landscaping and Hiei…well I think Hiei kind of lives here now."

"Kagome, let's go inside." Tugging on his sister's hand, Souta encouraged her to move along.

"Right." She murmured, glad for the interference.

"So it's okay, Yusuke." She called out, not looking back and pushing forward. "You can go now."

She didn't get far before she was forcefully halted in her steps by Yusuke grabbing her hand. As she turned back to him she was enthralled by his gaze.

"Is that what you really want?"

What a loaded question. She really didn't want them there, but she needed Yusuke to leave before she grew weak. How could she not when he spoke so… She didn't know what it was that weakened her. His tone, angry when he demanded Hiei and Kurama to leave, was gentle now as he spoke to her. Gentle and firm. Safe.

She knew she should ignore the feelings being invoked within her, but all she could think was that Yusuke was alpha as fuck. Delinquent turned spirit detective. Although she had only just learned of this occupation, it was top in her mind as a dangerous job, plus, he was the leader. Even though he was only human, he had become the head detective. She wasn't sure what he did to lead over Kurama and Hiei, with both of them being physically stronger than him, and Kurama definitely mire intelligent. It could be that he was actually stronger than he seemed, or sever prejudice on the part of the spirit world. His confidence, and obnoxiousness, gave him the benefit of the doubt. He was the first one to fight a dragon head on.

He was someone to admire, she had to admit, and now he was offering to beat up her harassers for her. She was flattered and impressed. No one had ever offered to beat someone up for her. Yeah, Inuyasha wanted to attack and kill whoever flirted and tried to kill her, but that had more to do with his ego and possessiveness, than her wellbeing.

She wished he would let go of her hand. It made the fight against the curse harder. She tried to focus on her goals. No pregnancy before school, a job, and marriage. Yusuke had a girlfriend who he was very much in love with. While she wasn't in love now, she wanted to be so when she finally did make a decision. His eyebrows were too thick. He wore too much gel in his hair. He was not on the bright side.

"Screw it." She said breathily.

If having him leave was a relief earlier, giving in to the curse now was orgasmic. She swooned towards him, as his eyes dilated. He pulled her in close, she parted her lips, he dipped her low, and she hooked her arms around his neck. This was going to happen.

With a yell, violent jerks, and whiplash, they were interrupted. With the precision of a whip wielding surgeon, Kurama struck Yusuke in the face, effectively missing Kagome.

"What the hell, Kurama?" Yusuke yelled in anger. "That's my face!"

"Kiss this, Gel head!" Souta yelled shooting Yusuke in his red marked face just before he could move to attack Kurama.

Sputtering up water, Yusuke moved towards Souta but was intercepted by a sword wielding Hiei. "So you want to go, let's go!"

"That is dangerous." Souta muttered as he witnessed the three boys begin to do battle. Everything was moving too fast, punches were being thrown too hard, swords were being swung too deadly, and the amount of curses was enough to make him blush.

"That's puberty kid." Kuwabara told him with the knowledge of a man who had gone through with it himself, although not as violently.

"I will dread it every day." Souta told himself as Kuwabara left to try to involve himself in the fight without being decapitated. But feeling that involving himself in the battle would be intrusive, he retrieved the hose that Kurama and Mama Higurashi had been using to water the new plants with earlier, and began to hose the battlers down, to little effect.

"Please." It was faint, but desperate. Turning towards the sound, Souta was alarmed to find his sister with her hand wrapped around Keiko's throat.

"What the hell is this?"

"She attacked me." Kagome told him, never looking away from Keiko's panicked expression.

"That's because you were about to make out with her boyfriend! Let her go!" he put emphasis on his words by shooting her in her spine.

"Sorry little brother. We've been outside too long, the water's warm now."

"Oh come on! Look at you! You're going to let that curse turn you into a killer?"

"I'm not trying to kill anyone!" she growled indignantly, finally turning away to look at him briefly. "Just trying to make sure she knows what's what."

"I'm sure she has it! Look at yourself! You're going to let this curse win? You're going to lose and choke a girl out over a gel head? Look at that guy! Why? He already has a girlfriend, let her deal with him. You coming into the picture is a little Kikyo-ish, wouldn't you say?"

Kagome's face instantly contorted. Simmering anger turned into appalled horror. Releasing her hold on Keiko, she hurriedly helped the gasping girl to her feet who instantly recoiled from her touch.

Flinching at the rejection, Kagome's face reddened in shame.

"You should apologize." Souta told her quietly, as he placed a hand upon her back and forced her to join him into a bow.

"Saying sorry isn't enough, but I truly am." Kagome mumbled aloud, keeping her posture sincere as she spoke.

"Now handle those guys over there." Souta said after a brief pause.

Nodding her head, Kagome turned towards the ruckus, making sure to avoid looking at Keiko. After watching the boys pummel each other for a while, Kagome let out a shaky breath.

"Why didn't you shoot them?"

"They're already being hosed down, what else was I going to do. Besides, I shot that delinquent guy before, and it didn't have an effect on him."

"He's human." She told him.

"If you knew he was human, why'd you ask? You know that stuff only works on demons. If I shoot, that guy will really kick the crap out of them."

"Give me the gun." Taking the gun, from him, Kagome stepped closer and aimed it at the brawl. "He's human, but it should affect high spirit energy."

Trying to hold and shoot a gun when one hand felt like wood was difficult, but she managed. After gathering herself, she channeled her miko into the gun and took a deep breath.

"Get out of the way!" she yelled to the combatants.

Though they were busy grappling and getting punched, Hiei and Kurama glanced up and assessed the situation. Hiei jumped back, partially lifting Yusuke into a full righted position, as Kurama backed off, pulling Kuwabara with him.

With the sudden departure of rivals, an angry Yusuke looked around confused, practically stumbling as he tried to right himself, but it wasn't long before he was sputtering and stumbling again, as Kagome blasted him full in the face.

"What the hell was that fo.." coughing up the water he was forced to swallow, he turned his angry face towards Kagome, but before he could finish his sentence he grew slack on his feet.

"Catch him." Kagome instructed as she watched him try to keep on his feet.

"What did you do to him?" Keiko asked as she and Kuwabara raced to his aid.

"It's okay." She reassured her. "He's just drained. He'll be fine after a good, long nap."

"What…the hell…is that?" Yusuke struggled to ask, giving up on standing, and relying mostly on Kuwabara's strength.

"Family secret." She told him without looking directly at him. "But I think it best if you leave, and maybe not come around until problems have been resolved."

Yusuke opened, or attempted to open his mouth several before giving up and just nodding.

"That seems like a good idea." Keiko agreed, urging Kuwabara along so that they could leave.

"When you say not to come around," Kuwabara asked as he passed her by. "That doesn't include me, right?"

"No!" Yusuke barked out, followed by a weary breath. "If…I can't…you can't."

"Hey, don't get pissed with me." Kuwabara barked as they continued on their way, dragging his friend, more than helping him walk. "I'm not the one who almost ruined every relationship he had in one day."

Listening to fading footsteps, Kagome turned towards the other two, who stood in waiting for her attention. She held the gun up to them.

"With or without the extra boost of purifying power, this will still affect you. Hiei, you know this well. I want to be alone for a while, could you two please leave."

She made a point to single out Hiei with the gun. "And when I say leave, I mean actually leave. Not skulk around in the trees like a voyeur, fetish squirrel."

His eyes narrowed, his face hardened, but with nary a grunt, Hiei disappeared.

After looking at his friend vanish, Kurama turned to Kagome one last time.

"Well, this was eye opening."

"A bit too much." She answered wearily, looking drained and slouching on her feet. "I would've had sex with Yusuke in front of Keiko _and_ my brother."

"Have you ever had a reaction…?"

"I would've looked you in the eye while we did it."

Kurama was silenced. Kagome's lip twitched.

"Why do you think you had such a reaction to him?"

Kagome groaned as she finally put the bow down. "You were supposed to leave when I said that."

"I got that. Is it because he's human?"

"I don't know, Kurama. I have no idea how this Ovarian Interruption works."

"Must you call it that?"

"I am very proud of that name, and shall be sticking with it." Sighing, she began to massage her head from where a headache was beginning to form. Her left arm hung lamely by her side, feeling heavy and overused. What warmth she had absorbed from the sun was stolen away by the water and every slight breeze that the air could whip up.

Feeling down, shamed, embarrassed, and tired she looked back to the silent Kurama and clenched up as her stomach flipped. It was just not fair that someone could be that hot while soaking wet. His clothing clung to his body in all the right spots and he looked solemnly at her from beneath layers of soggy hair. For once, the beautiful boy was gone, and all she saw was a handsome young man. He looked cute and she blushed as she realized that she liked that look on him better than the beautiful god that he usually was.

Sensing her change of mood, Kurama stood taller and approached her. His eyes smoldering as he reached out to her. She could already feel him touching her gently, caressing her and warming her cool skin.

The gun was up and pointing at his face before he could get too close.

"This isn't real Kurama." She told him, her heart beating fast and longing to let him touch her.

"What if it is?" he countered.

"I know it's not. You didn't feel this way about me until after _this_ happened. I didn't feel that way towards you, Hiei…or Yusuke. Hell, he was almost as hostile towards me as Hiei, and you…you were just as upset as I was, after we…had 'The Happening'"

"But I told you, I…"

"Yeah, yeah. You weren't that upset. I remember. But it's hard for me to believe that these feelings are real, especially on my end."

"So you feel nothing for me?"

"Oh yeah I do. I want to suck your lips right off your face and I can't stop looking at your shirt clinging to your damn body. And you're so tall and hot. You smell like roses and I couldn't think of a better scent to drown myself in as my body is devoured by everything you have to offer."

Kurama shook his head as if to clear his mind. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I don't know," she muttered, her eyes trained on his biceps. "I lost my train of thought. I really need to start yoga."

"Yoga?" his voice was breathy and as she glanced at him, she cringed.

"Then there's that. I hate a part of you. I hate Youko."

"I would be correct to guess that the reason isn't because of the Ovarian…"

"Interruption?" she completed with a humorless grin. "Spot on. You can understand why, I hope."

"Right." Sensing the change in attitude again, he turned away towards the stairs again. "I guess I'll be going."

"Kurama." Grabbing his arm, she stopped him from getting too far away. "You see this little rollercoaster we just went on? This is every day for me. It's tiring and confusing. I don't know what's a legit feeling or a product of my situation. I'm sorry for pushing you away, but you have to understand what I'm going through."

He smiled at her and caressed the hand that touched him with such soft skin. "I understand. I'll just leave you now to let you clear your head."

"Thanks." With her hand burning from his touch, she smiled back and watched him leave.

"So," Souta commented as he stepped to her side to watch Kurama leave. "That just happened."

"I forgot you were here."

"I could tell."

After a pause she sighed. "Want to eat ice cream and watch people do yoga on TV?"

"Sure." Turning, they both began to make their way into the house. "But I want you to know its weird being your brother sometimes."

"I know, Souta."

"Never boring, but weird."


	4. The Outing

"I'm really sorry."

The luncheon was awkward, she had to admit. The food was good, but the atmosphere was tense.

"You already said that." Keiko said softly.

The booth they sat in was relatively clean, with the great view out of the window making it prime real estate in the small diner.

"Yeah, I guess I did then." Kagome replied just as quietly. "But I really am."

After the incident at the shrine, Kagome couldn't help the guilt she felt in her stomach. She knew the effects weren't real, Kurama, Hiei, and her entire family knew. Now that they were separated and back to the senses, she was sure that Yusuke knew it now too. But Keiko was just an observer, and all she saw and felt was heartache as her boyfriend almost cheated on her.

Once she felt that things had cooled down, Kagome got Keiko's number from Kurama and invited her to lunch. She heard the hesitation over the phone and she understood, but Keiko ultimately agreed and Kagome was grateful for the chance to clear things up. So they scheduled a time and place to meet up and Kagome preceded to apologize, explain the actual circumstances that caused the incident, and gave a brief history of her life and her brush up with cheaters.

"It's just that, I understand how you must feel. With what I told you about Inuyasha and Kikyo, I really do. I understand and I'm so sorry. I mean, I was kind of like your Kikyo in that situation."

She tried to lift her voice towards the end, lighten the air, but the mood was too heavy and the awkward silence smothered her attempt.

Keiko said nothing. She didn't even look up from the food she pushed across her plate.

"The difference being, I didn't, _we_ _didn't_, mean anything by it. Not really. It's not real, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Because if you did mean anything by it," Keiko suddenly spoke up, keeping her eyes downcast. "You're being Kikyo-ish?"

"Yeah, that's right." Kagome answered hesitantly.

"You were being Kikyo-ish, because she came in between you and Inuyasha."

"Right."

"Just like you were coming in between me and Yusuke." Now Keiko looked up at her.

"It was the curse's fault," Kagome retorted, not liking the look or tone. "But yeah, just like that."

"That's weird, because it seems to me like you were just being yourself."

Kagome faulted. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah," Keiko replied, her voice sounding more confident as it rose in volume. "From what you told me, it just seems you were being yourself."

"How so?" Kagome asked defensively.

"You said Kikyo came in between you two, right? Well, it seems to me that you came in between them."

"I what?" Kagome sputtered.

"They were together long before you ever came into the picture."

"She died!"

"Never officially broke up, and you said they were tricked into killing each other. It was a misunderstanding. And when she came back, and 'got in between you two' she was only following her heart. They _cheated_ behind your back, because you were in the way. You kept them from being happily together."

Kagome didn't know how to respond, and in her hesitation, Keiko grew bolder.

"This 'curse' just seems to be an excuse to be yourself. It goes to say, that you're pretty good at ruining relationships. Just look at what you're doing to Kurama and Hiei."

"Just what am I doing to them? Enlighten me about myself."

"Those two are best friends, and I've never seen anything come in between them, until you."

"They're doing everything on their own fruition. I'm not forcing them to do anything."

"You're leading them on! Kurama tells me all about it. You act like he bothers you and that you don't have any feelings for him, but your '_mom'_ is always inviting him over and you flirt with him."

"First off, my 'mom' invites him over to help with the shrine renovations, and any flirting is caused by the curse. And I barely talk with him because of that."

"You give him looks."

"Looks?"

"Yeah, the same look you were giving my boyfriend."

"What part of curse didn't you understand? Did I choke too many brain cells from your head?"

As she said this, Keiko made a face as if she had just confirmed all her suspicions.

"Well does your curse cause you not to have any friends?"

"What?"

"Kurama told me, you don't have any friends. Is that part of your curse, or just your need to surround yourself with guys?"

"I don't surround myself with guys."

"Then why don't you tell Hiei to leave? Make your mom hire someone else? Have any friends at all? Female friends?"

"I have friends." Kagome said lowly, more to convince herself than Keiko.

"That's not what Kurama says. He says no one ever visits and you come straight home after your cram school."

"He's not around all the time. He doesn't know what the hell I do. What else has he told you about me?"

"Nothing I don't already know."

"And what do you know about me? You, who I barely even know."

"I know enough. You're obviously bad news. Why else would you be suing the spirit world?"

"I'm not suing the spirit world. I'm suing Koenma."

"For what? More attention?"

"For what? I was kidnapped and forced onto a dangerous mission against my will."

"It was for a good cause."

"He didn't even know what the relic did when he forced us to find it."

"That's his job. What if it was dangerous and fell into the wrong hands?"

"It was split into pieces and made dangerous by us. If it was just left alone, it would have been fine."

"And so that's why you're suing, because he was being cautious?"

"Are you stupid? I'm suing because I was kidnapped, forced into slavery, raped, poisoned, and killed. Plus, I received a life altering curse. That's why I'm suing."

"Well what about, Kurama?"

"Oh my God! What about him? How did all that round back to him?"

"You're dragging his poor name through the mud."

"He's the reason I was raped, and it's Youko whose name is on paper for it."

"Well Youko is a part of Kurama."

"Not at the time, he wasn't. And Kurama admitted that he wasn't sorry it happened. Said he could've fought harder to stop it."

"And what about you? You couldn't stop it?"

"Are you blaming the victim?"

"I just don't think Kurama deserves the slander this lawsuit will bring him."

"Well I'm starting to think you mind me being involved with Kurama more than Yusuke."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean; you seem mighty attached to Kurama. This whole conversation has been more about what I'm doing to Kurama than what I did with your boyfriend. And you mentioned Kurama's and Hiei's friendship, but that was all there was to the Hiei topic. You seem to be carrying a torch for the fox."

"Well I just think Hiei can take of himself. Besides, you two might deserve each other."

"Is that so? Is Hiei such a bad person, that he deserves a man eater, home wrecking, attention whore like me?"

"I didn't say it, you did."

"Your, precious Kurama isn't as innocent as you think, and while you two have been gossiping about me, I've been told a few things about you."

"You have, have you?"

"Oh yes. Now let me tell you what's wrong about you?"

Keiko didn't say anything but gave Kagome a go ahead nod.

"You're taking such offense at me, because you're threatened by me."

"Of course. I met you once and you attacked me."

"You're threatened because you're no longer the only girl in the group."

"I'm not like you. I have female friends."

"Of course you do. Because you're just an average, plain, boring, useless school girl."

"I'm not useless, I helped Yusuke come back to life."

"Right, with the power of your love, or because he made a sacrifice to come back to you. Seems like you were just motivation. Like anyone in the right place at the right time would have done just as well."

"You don't know about me. You don't know what we've been through together."

"Together? When you're just a cheerleader, you don't get to take credit for anything. Or are you talking about before he was a spirit detective? When you use to make him go to school? When you were just a childhood friend? A role anyone could fill."

Kagome leaned in close. "Face it, you're just a groupie. You bring nothing to the table. I thought I was a liability when I went to the past, but compared to you, I was a rock star."

"Oh yeah?" Keiko retorted, nervous yet determined to make her point. "Well, you're a bad person."

"Is that all you got?"

"No. You're mean and ill tempered. I think you're a violent criminal. It took days for my throat to stop hurting after you attacked me, and I heard about the body in the rug. You're needlessly suing the spirit world just for attention. I think you like leading Kurama and Hiei on. And you're not only ruining their friendship, you're ruining the team. Kurama and Hiei are skipping out on missions now, because of you. They also told me how you behaved in the spirit world. Erratic, insane, and selfish behavior. You were more of a nuisance than a help. You constantly tried to shirk your responsibility, and attacked the boys whenever things didn't go your way."

"You ran into Inuyasha and Kikyo there, and you did more than ruin their relationship, you killed them. Just like that kid."

Into the aftermath, they stared across the table at eachother in a hostile silence. The rest of the café was quiet as customers had already vacated or were just sitting in wait for the awkward luncheon to end.

"Useless bitch!" Kagome finally spat out.

"You're…you're just an evil…wh…_whore_." Keiko countered back quickly.

With their final goodbyes spoken, the two girls raced the other into getting out of the booth. Souta, who was Kagome's chaperone, and Kuwabara, whom Keiko had asked to accompany her because she didn't want to face Kagome alone, both exited their own booths and met each other's gaze in camaraderie.

"We're leaving." Keiko told the older boy, not bothering to look Kagome's way.

"Okay." Kuwabara agreed uneasily before looking towards Kagome with a wince. "Well, I guess I'll see you around then."

"Don't talk to her." Keiko scolded him, returning to grab his arm possessively. "Wouldn't want you to go to Yukina, smelling like tramp."

Kagome, whose face had softened when being addressed by Kuwabara, scowled deeply at Keiko and their retreating back.

"Tell your boyfriend I said 'hi'!" she yelled after them before turning on her heel and heading for the secondary exit.

As the girls stormed out of the café, the workers sighed in relief and were so thankful for their departure that no one noticed that no one paid for the meal.

Kagome had been making great strides down the street with her ears steaming and her breathing loud. Most pedestrians before her, parted like the red sea out of her path.

She'd show her who was a bad person. She wasn't bad, but she sure could be it. She'd be her personal villain. It would be no struggle to ruin that girl's life. Apparently she was good at that type of thing. She could ruin her relationship. Take Yusuke away right from under her nose. The curse made it simple to do so. She could ruin her life easily. She could ruin her face with a couple of quick, hard blows, break some important bones and leave her affected for life. Be easier just to kill her. She was good at killing. Killing was her thing. She'd killed before and she could kill again. No trouble at all to pop her little head off. She could do that and so much more, but she wouldn't. Despite what Keiko said. She wasn't a killer. She didn't go around ruining lives and relationships. Not on purpose. All the hurtful things she said were just the results of a frightened, jealous, threatened girlfriend.

"Hey," Souta called out, grabbing hold of her arm and halting her in her steps "You okay?"

His intentions were to question his sister subtlety, let her vent now before they got home. He was going to be a considerate little brother and a lend an ear to his sister. His sister fought monsters and went on quests. His sister had ninjas living outside her window and had the Devil for a lawyer, but she was still a girl. One thing he had learned about girls in his thirteen years of life, were that they hated each other and were capable of tearing people to pieces with just their words.

His sister was someone to look up to, and she needed him right now. Just not in the way he was expecting.

Face stricken, lip quivering, and eyes bleary, Kagome's voice broke as she tried to speak. "Am I really a friendless monster?"

"Uhh?" he voiced unsurely.

He could do nothing but stand there as his sister fell into his shoulder and bawled nosily in public. This was being there for her, right?

* * *

By the time they made it home, Kagome's crying had subsided, her face was still a little swollen, but no longer red. Her breathing had even out, and she had stopped sniffling.

Feeling awkward and not knowing what to do, Souta walked ahead of her with his mind set on getting his mother to handle damage control. He practically flew up the shrine steps, but upon breaching the top he had a sudden thought.

"You know what Kagome?" he suddenly exclaimed, backtracking to meet up with her.

Kagome, who had been lost in thought, paused at his sudden voice.

"It's going to be okay!" he yelled, patting her on the shoulder.

"Why are you yelling?" she asked him weakly.

"I know you're very upset about what just happened with that Keiko girl!"

"Then why are you bringing it up?" she asked him in slight agitation before continuing to move upward.

"I'm just saying, that by you being very upset, you would hate to run into anyone right now! And that if anyone who wasn't blood related to us, was in ear shot, you would like for them to not be around!"

"Now you're just being weird and suspicious."

"I'm just saying." He replied, his voice now calmer. "That it's going to be okay."

Patting her on the shoulder, he gave her an encouraging smile before bounding ahead of her. She followed slower with confusion clouding her eyes, but as she crested the top of the stairs, everything became clear.

"Just don't take whatever she says to heart." She heard Souta telling a confused Kurama. "Remember, we are rooting for you. Well mom is, Grandpa doesn't always know what is going on, and me. Well let's just say I haven't caught you attacking her in her bedroom yet. But you're the family favorite."

"Glad to hear I have your blessing." Kurama told him, eyeing Kagome as she approached.

"Don't thank us just yet." Souta responded, giving Kagome a quick glance before running away to the safety of the house. "Stay strong!"

"Did something happen between you and Keiko?" Kurama asked after a moment.

She felt anger boil over her as she stared at him. For once, in a very long time, the curse had no effect on her.

"You!" she growled, pointing a threatening finger at him. "You gossiping jerk."

"I'm sorry?"

"You should be! Because of you and your girlfriend Keiko, I just had the worst lunching in my life!"

"You had lunch with Keiko?"

"Oh boy, did I! And because of you and your big mouth, the food turned to ash in my stomach!"

"And this was my fault somehow?"

"Right." She confirmed. "She was more than happy to tell me all the things that are wrong with me! All the things _you_ told her."

"Are you sure she's not still just upset over what happened with Yusuke?"

"That's why I invited her out to lunch; to apologize. Only problem was, she didn't have much to say about him. It was all talk about you."

"Me?"

"Oh yeah. She's a big fan of yours! And I am just the worst!"

"Ah, I see." Kurama muttered; more to himself than for Kagome's benefit.

"Yeah, you see! I know you see, and you told her about what you see and then she told me!" Kagome raked her hand across her face.

"Now I feel like poo!" she growled, interrupting Kurama before he could think of anything to say. "And it's apparently evil, attention seeking, whoring poo. Kurama? Does the evil, attention seeking, whore poo sound familiar to you?"

Kurama still had nothing to say.

"Why'd you tell her all those things? You can't give girls that type of ammo against other girls. They aim for the soul! Girls are ruthless!"

"I truly am sorry, Kagome." Kurama told her; looking the part. "Keiko is my friend, we often talk over the phone about things in our lives, and you just so happen to be a prominent figure in my life now."

Kagome wasn't buying and glared at him defiantly.

"Seems like you prefer it another way. She had so much negativity. So many bad things to say about me." Kagome's voice began to shake. "Bad things about me, that you told her. If you think I'm such manipulative, indecisive, tease, then why are you here?"

Seeing Kagome start to break, Kurama knew that it was time to back off.

"It's unfortunate that my conversations with Keiko brought you ill fortune today. Its apparent that she only pulled out the negatives about you."

"So you really did say those things about me?"

"Not in this way. My words have been twisted. But I will not lie and say that courting you has been the easiest."

"It's not supposed to be easy." She told him darkly.

"That's a good thing." He told her with a small smile.

"Oh, so there are some pros to '_courting'_ me?"

"Plenty. But I'll save them for another day, in your current state, you wouldn't hear me out."

Kagome only gave him a bleary eyed glare; not liking that he was right.

"But you asked me why I was still here. I am here, because I want to be _here._" He stepped up and brandished his arm next to her. "By your side."

Pausing, he looked her in the eye and held contact until she looked away in discomfort.

"I also stopped by to check on the progress of the plants and decided to wait for you, but I guess I'll cut our time short by taking my leave now."

Ignoring the charm trying ooze its way into her sour mood, Kagome stepped back and gave him a clear shot to the stairs. Smiling at a joke only he got, Kurama nodded to her and took his first steps towards the exit.

"Next time you see me," he called out over his shoulder. "I'll have a proper apology waiting and a new policy about how I talk with friends."

"Yeah, you do that." Kagome mumbled to herself as she turned on her heel to go inside, catching the tail end of the curtain dropping as her family backed away from the window.

She really couldn't blame Kurama for what happened, she knew that deep down. All that he had done was share conversations with a friend and tell her his woes. She knew it wasn't easy being around her. If he called, she wasn't interested, when he came around she tried to fight off her attraction to him, and she was sure it came off as teasing. It was a normal thing to tell a friend about, and it wasn't his fault Keiko used it to gut her open. If she had friends, they'd probably have bad things to say about Kurama. If she had friends she could talk about things like this with. She had friends. She was sure she did.

As she came inside she breezed gloomily past her grandpa, who was picking lent from the sofa, her mother, who was counting cracks in the ceiling, and Souta, who was suddenly into calisthenics.

Up the stairs she trudged; feeling down again. As she opened the door to her room, she found Hiei sitting on the floor, leaning against her bed with his eyed closed, as if he was in mediation.

Ignoring him, she crawled into her bed behind him and put her face in the pillow. In the comfort of her room, she let the silence swallow them.

In the silence she replayed her encounter with Keiko. She felt her anger rise again in the silence. It was in the silence that her temper flared at Kurama. It then dimmed as a gloom as thick as the silence fell over her.

She didn't cry, but she felt like she could. She also felt a bit of annoyance poke her in the head as the silence started getting to her. She wouldn't have minded it as much if she was alone. But she wasn't alone and the silence had gone on for a quite a bit. She had just gone on an emotional rollercoaster and now that the ride was over, she felt that someone should've said something by now.

Turning her head to the side, she looked towards Hiei and waited.

Nothing.

"Hey." She called out weakly. "Aren't you supposed to be comforting me."

Hiei shifted and turned his head to the side so that he can look at her with one crimson pupil. "You were filleted by a dragon, killed what might have been a demi-god, and you have the Lord of the Western lands wrapped around your finger. What do you need comforting from?"

"She really hurt my feelings." Kagome whined.

She wasn't sure how, but she was sure she saw a piece of Hiei die after she spoke. Only one eye was turned towards her, but his eye lid drooped heavily over it, and his pupil darkened as if the life had been stolen from his body.

"I will kill you where you stand, if you ever say that again."

Kagome pouted against her pillow. "I can still have my feelings hurt."

"You're not supposed to confess it. Especially if it was by someone like the detective's woman."

"Girls are vicious monsters to each other."

"And you couldn't slay her?"

"Not when Kurama has supplied her with Excalibur."

Hiei sighed and shifted into place. "What did she say to you?"

"She said I was a bad person." Kagome told him, still unable to keep the whine out of her voice.

"Do you think you're a bad person?" Hiei countered.

"No." she answered after a moment's pause. "But she called me a violent killer too. And I have killed, and violence is a big part of my life."

"I've seen the way that girl interacts with the detective, she has violent tendencies too. And you being a killer; do you regret killing? Do you kill enemies or innocents? Do you enjoy it?"

"No. And I've only killed Weylin…and Kikyo. Does purifying demons count as murder?"

"Yes." Hiei answered her quickly, his answer clipping the end of her question.

"Oh." She moaned lowly.

"What else did the girl say?"

"She told me I ruin relationships?"

"What relationships?"

"Yours and Kurama for one. She told me I'm causing a rift in your friendship, and that I like the attention."

"The moment the fox and I let a mere woman come between us, our friendship was already over."

"Aww." She cooed softly. "You love your friend."

Hiei turned his back to her and rested his head against her bed peacefully. "You're in a very vulnerable position. Do you want to spar or continue to pretend like I'm comforting you?"

"That's not helping the violence in my life." She told him.

"Get on with it! What else _hurt your feelings_?"

"More relationship sabotaging. I was apparently the one in the way with Inuyasha and Kikyo. Even though by the time I showed up she had been dead for 50 years. And when she eventually came back to life, Inuyasha and I had developed feelings for each other, mine were evidentially stronger than his, but there were some definite feelings on his side too. He was a stubborn, grumpy, asshole, but it seeped through anyhow."

"Is there a point to this?" Hiei asked in a bored voice.

"Yeah, I'm just wondering how could I be in the way of their love if she is dead, had been dead, for over fifty years and he had obviously moved on and started…."

"Point is," Hiei interrupted her. "that you already proved you weren't in their way. They were planning to murder you, they lasted together for over 500 years after you left, and the only problem is your bad taste in men."

"You have a bad taste in men." She countered indignantly.

"That's it? She called you a psychotic killer of lives and relationships?"

"And she called me a whore." Kagome answered, her voice coming out angry.

"Hm. Whore. Whores make money, don't they? You've been selling your body, woman?"

"No I haven't been selling my body."

"Good. Because if you were that cheap of a base woman, my time here is over."

"What makes you think I would be cheap?"

"Oh," he remarked, shifting to look at her again. "Do you have self-confidence now?"

"I always have confidence in myself."

"Not when you walked through that door."

"That's because it had been drowned and beaten. But she also said I was attention whore, and that's why I'm surrounded by men and why I'm suing the spirit world."

"You might be an attention whore." He commented, deaf to her offended call. "And there are too many men around you."

"You're not supposed to agree."

"It's just an observation. Anyone could make it."

"Well I don't want to hear it. What about Kurama? She said I'm dragging his name through the dirt with the suit."

"The fox's name was already sullied long before you were ever a factor."

"We meant Kurama, not Youko."

"I know who I was talking about. The fox isn't as innocent as you think."

"Well he hides it well." She retorted, not believing him.

"He hides it from everyone. Including himself. Are we done? Is that all?"

"Yeah." She bemoaned. "At least, I can't remember anything else."

"So what did you say in retort?"

"Huh?"

"You didn't just let her get away with it, did you?"

"I called her a useless, jealous bitch." She answered, suddenly fired up.

"There you go." Hiei approved.

"She seems a little too interested in Kurama, and I told her she's just a groupie and could be easily replaced. If I had a mind too, I'm sure I could take Yusuke away from her. That'll show her."

"That's just the kind of attitude a bad person would display. Good work."

"You suck at this." She admonished him as she sat up to glare over him.

"You suck at defending yourself from verbal attacks." He countered, looking up at her. "From a little, human, girl, at that. Disappointing."

"I seem to disappoint you a lot." Kagome commented, as she lowered herself back onto the bed, her face hovering dangerously low over his.

"Then do better."

"Sounds like you only want the best for me." she began to touch his face lightly. "But I know that's not what you mean."

He said nothing, but his eyes bore deeply into her hers. The silence that followed was heavy. Heavy and hot. So hot, that when the cold water hit them, they almost hit the ceiling.

"That's enough of that." Mama Higurashi said cheerfully, as she continued to spray them with the bottle. "Glad to see you're in better spirits."

"Yeah, mom, me too." Wiping the water from her face, Kagome looked towards Hiei, only to find him missing and her window wide open. She felt remotely disheartened.

"I can see he cares about you…in his own way. I'm glad of that."

"He's a little rough around the…"

"I still don't like him. He gets into your room too easily. Too frequently. Kurama doesn't sneak in your room."

"You are really on this Kurama train. Why don't you just marry him?"

"Why don't you?" her mother retorted eagerly. "Such a nice young man."

"So if Hiei came through the door instead of the window, you would like him more?"

"Yes. And if he would stop looking like there was murder in his eyes."

"What if you caught me and Kurama being intimate? Would you stop us if it was him?"

Her mother considered it for a second and smiled brilliantly at her. "Of course. I only stop you and the ninja, if you get too rowdy or if you're alone. I'll do the same with Kurama. You said you wanted to accomplish your goals before having the baby, and I'm going to help you achieve them."

"Right." Kagome agreed. "School, career, and marriage."

"That's it. Once you've gotten to your goals, you can go crazy with whomever you choose."

Not liking the way her mother phrased it, Kagome frowned in distaste.

"Goals and ambitions. We all have them. Now come downstairs and help me try to get some of mine done. We're going to turn this place back into an actual shrine before the year's out."


End file.
